Aussie Finch Forum

I am curious as to why the Beautiful Firetail is on the "Level 2" licence list in NSW, and why it is so very expensive compared with other Australian finches.
Is it hard to breed from or otherwise not amenable to captive management?
Was there only a small number in circulation when the licensing system came in?

And does anyone reading have any experience keeping them?

This is short and to the point answers . Yes. Yes and no .

Brevity is beauty. What a shame I'm no good at it. Thank you for answers, WF.

try Marcus Pollard, he wrote an article for birdkeeper on his experiences with BFs
http://www.cliftonfinchaviaries.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi Matty,

for long time BFT's were rare, isolated and difficult to breed in captivity. In fact, the early aviculturist had difficulty in just keeping them alive in captivity. This all led to their restriction and high price. For once the powers that be got it right and only wanted serious professional breeders to keep them. However, aviculture has come a long way, particularly in the last 10-15 years. As Jaybird mentioned, Marcus Pollard has had massive success with BFTs and has so many he can't get rid of them due to the restrictive laws! Marcus lives in Tassy, the last stronghold of the BFT. I know breeders as far north as the Hunter Valley NSW that had either no, or limited success with BFT. This was odd because this species exists in isolated pockets in and around the Hunter Valley. Those breeders were the best of the best, so for them to fail you can understand how tricky this species is. I seriously doubt they could be bred any further north (ie QLD) in their current genetic form.

BFT can also be very aggressive, and thus they need to be kept by themselves - yet another reason why they have not been popular. I say in the current genetic form because I remember when Crimson finches were the most spiteful, blood thirsty finches known to man! LOL - well maybe not that bad, but they certainly had a reputation for being pugnacious. But over the years through lots of hard work by many dedicated breeders, the natural aggression was tempered enough to have a strain now that can be easily kept in a mixed collection with very little difficulty. The unfortunate side of this is not enough people are keeping BFT so it is still some time off yet.

The Red-eared Firetail shares a similar story however more people have been able to breed them. Gary McCrae from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia is the leading expert (in my opinion) on Red-eareds. He is actually a member of this forum! (so is Marcus from time to time...but I didn't say that ;) lol

Finally, yes, they are expensive for Aussie finches, but if you ever find a pair of Violet-Eared Waxbills, Peales Parrot Finch or Lavender Finches for under $3000 a pair please let me know!

i remember when i was a kid, these where as expencive and hard to breed as they are today.

Thank you dano and Jayburd.
I have been lost in Marcus Pollard's site for a few days now.
I think I will give the beautifuls a go at some stage, but I will need a purpose built space and a level II license.
They have been sighted in my area (NSW southern tablelands), but never by me.
Thanks again.

I personally saw 1 Beautiful in the Royal National Park in 97/98 not that far from civilisation.

Its something i will never forget.

I've seen them a few times at Barren Grounds! They're awesome birds! The most reliable places to see them around Sydney is the Fire Trail at the Royal, and Barren Grounds! If you want, the following link is an interactive map showing all the places they've ever been recorded (a total of 3,006), if you want to try and find one!

http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Stagonopleura%20bella" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (and then click on "View interactive map")

As I have very little approaching a social life I decided to have a go at making a forecast of where one can keep Beautiful Firetails! It's made using a thing called Spacial Data Analysis, where a program finds all the geocoded records of a species, and records the environment from those spots, and turns that into a forecast of where they're likely to be found!

In this case I decided that it would be best to add only climate layers to read the data from:
Below is the full list

Occurrence Density
Evaporation - annual mean
Evaporation - average
Growth index C3 macrotherm plants - annual mean
Growth index C3 mesotherm plants - annual mean
Growth index C4 megatherm plants - annual mean
Humidity - annual mean relative
Aridity index - annual mean
Precipitation - annual
Precipitation - driest month
Solar Radiation - annual mean
Solar Radiation - highest period
Solar Radiation - lowest period
Temperature - annual max mean
Temperature - annual mean
Temperature - annual min mean
Temperature - coldest month min
Temperature - warmest period max

and the map is here [Link removed, look at the map lower down, more accurate]

Basically, if one wants to keep Beautiful Firetails the optimal climate you can keep them in is
With a total maximum temperature of between 15 and 25 (and if you have a maximum of over 30, it's very difficult)
An annual mean temperature of between 8 and 15 (any higher than 18... Ohh oo)
Over 1000mm of rain a year
With no month having less than 40mm
The birds are not sensitive to a minimum temperature
An average humidity of over 80%

For Matty:

That is a suitability map zoomed and centred around Canberra...

Gundaroo doesn't seem like the best area for them, though I think the major points are the one covered above, so if your place adheres to all the above, you should be fine!
I think it's the Growth indexes that dragging Gundaroo down... So yeah!

Of course, this is wild birds, but I assume that Beautiful Firetails aren't domestic enough for them to be very different from the Wild Birds
~Nathan

Edit: The Values for Gundaroo are as follows:
Annual Max Mean (Temperature): 17.37 (So you're good there)
Annual Mean Temperature: 13.6 (Fine there aswell)
Total Annual Rainfall: 638mm (A little low there, but the firetails might be exclusively in above 1000mm because the plants they live in need more than 1000mm, if you can supply those plants, should all be good, if not, just sprinkle them with the hose abit xD)
Rainfall in the Driest Month: 47mm (All okay there)
Average Humidity: 81%

So I think you should be all right!


Edit 2:
Just did another Analysis without the Growth Indexes, and although Gundaroo hasn't faired much better it's alot more forgiving to places in general
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/species2.png/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think you're (Matty) biggest problem is Solar Radiation, where the Annual Mean Gundaroo is at the very top end of what they can stand, and so is the maximum Solar Radiation, I think a Sun Shade or roofing over most of the aviary would be best for them ;)